Open letter to UN Security Council members

The following letter was sent to the members of the UN Security Council on behalf of Saharawi civil society organizations – both in the refugee camps and occupied territory – as well as international activist groups and NGOs.

On behalf of Saharawi civil society organizations – both in the refugee camps and occupied territory – as well as international activist groups and NGOs, we are writing to you in your capacity as President of the UN Security Council, to place on record our strong belief that the status quo in Western Sahara is unacceptable.

We urge the Security Council to live up to its mandate and act to move forward the UN political process toward an acceptable solution that would allow for the Saharawi people to exercise their right to self-determination, in accordance with the UN Charter and numerous resolutions of the UN Security Council and General Assembly. For over forty years now, the people of Western Sahara remain divided between life in unforgiving desert refugee camps or under a brutal Moroccan occupation where they are deprived of basic rights and opportunities. Generations have endured this uprooted existence, growing up and growing old in a limbo perpetuated by global apathy.

Too often, the diplomatic system has treated the conflict in Western Sahara as a problem to be managed, not solved. Time creeps steadily on for the Saharawi people while the empty words of diplomats echo in the halls of the UN. The latest crisis at the UN, which occurred after Morocco ordered the expulsion of peacekeeping staff from the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), is a smokescreen that is being used to move further away from a serious discussion about the ultimate solution to the conflict.

The UN’s direct and stated commitment to hold a self-determination referendum under measures put in place 25 years ago following the agreement between the Frente POLISARIO and Morocco – as endorsed by the Security Council – must be realised. The MINURSO peacekeeping mission, established to organize the referendum, must be restored to full functionality from its current depleted state. But that is not an end in itself – Security Council members shouldn’t fool themselves into thinking that this is progress. It is emblematic of the longstanding diplomatic failure on Western Sahara that merely staving off manufactured crises is considered a success while the fundamental dynamics of the conflict remain unchanged.

Direct negotiations between the Frente POLISARIO – the legitimate and internationally recognized representative of the Saharawi people – and Morocco are the only way for real progress to take place. The current stalemate has been allowed to continue for too long. The UN Security Council controls the process and bears responsibility for ensuring that it remains constructive and viable.

Accordingly, we call on the Council to adopt a more urgent and proactive approach in pursuit of a solution to the conflict in Western Sahara during its meeting of 26 July 2016, including by taking steps to:

Ensure that MINURSO returns to full functionality and is allowed to continue to do its original and ongoing work, in accordance with long established principles and practices of UN peacekeeping, including the establishment of a human rights monitoring mechanism.

Outline a process for direct, intensive, high-level and time-bound talks, without preconditions, between the Frente POLISARIO and Morocco, in order to ensure a timely resolution of the conflict.

The basic principles at stake are simple and fundamental. The right to self-determination is enshrined in the UN Charter and is the foundation on which MINURSO’s mission was built. We, the undersigned, call on you to act with due urgency to support the right of the people of Western Sahara to choose their own political future. This will require political will and bravery by members of the Security Council, but it is no less than the Saharawi people have been promised and deserve.

Mark Williams MP, Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group on Western Sahara